Freedom Investment Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Celanese were worth $715,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. lifted its holdings in Celanese by 2.7% in the second quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 3,441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $464,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake in Celanese by 13.4% during the second quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 839 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in Celanese by 20.4% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 585 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its stake in Celanese by 0.4% during the second quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 27,552 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,716,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Celanese by 128.8% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on CE shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. KeyCorp cut shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Celanese from $150.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Celanese from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $156.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Celanese from $132.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $120.59.

Celanese Stock Performance

NYSE CE opened at $72.91 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The business has a fifty day moving average of $113.64 and a 200-day moving average of $128.98. Celanese Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.38 and a fifty-two week high of $172.16.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.85 by ($0.41). Celanese had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 10.40%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 8.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 30th. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.17%.

About Celanese

Celanese Corporation, a chemical and specialty materials company, manufactures and sells high performance engineered polymers in the United States and internationally. It operates through Engineered Materials and Acetyl Chain. The Engineered Materials segment develops, produces, and supplies specialty polymers for automotive and medical applications, as well as for use in industrial products and consumer electronics.